The RPOE Story

In January 2009 in an Italian Restaurant meeting room on North Lincoln Boulevard, eight people met to discuss the possibility of starting a retired member services under the umbrella of Professional Oklahoma Educators (POE). After the decision to move forward and with a President and Secretary in place, the remainder of the year was spent in a planning and organizational mode. In 2010 RPOE was launched “full steam ahead” and has grown to around 600 members. Most RPOE members are those retired educators who were POE members during their active years, but many who were not affiliated with the parent organization have also come aboard sighting traditional values and non-union connections as their primary interests. One of RPOE's most attractive benefits is the legal consultation available through the legal department, but members also enjoy lobbying representation at the State Capitol, Newsletters with helpful updates, access to discounts and more. As we grow and serve our members in a caring and professional manner, playing even a small part in making their retirement fulfilling and rewarding, the RPOE story will continue.

LARGE ENOUGH TO SERVE YOU.... SMALL ENOUGH TO KNOW YOU.....

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Discount for MembersRPOE members are entitled to numerous discounts on a wide array of consumer products including lodging, travel, electronics, insurance, and many other popular items. To access these discounts RPOE members simply need click on the Member Perks icon.

LOOKING AHEAD!With summer now behind us and the new membership cycle before us, the RPOE state office is eager to continue serving its members. As we continue to grow, we find our members scattered not only from one side of the state of Oklahoma to the other, but also into at least a dozen other states. It is rewarding to see how our members, although education careers are behind them, remain interested in staying connected to the latest developments in their profession. It is a pleasure to do our small part of keeping education issues, goals and pertinent news of the day before our members. It is also a pleasure to offer our free legal consultation services through our legal department. Our attorneys are second to none when it comes to serving our members. They take that responsibility very seriously.

It is also time for our Legislative Lobby Team to once again focus on representing our members at the state capitol. With the new session starting up in February of 2020 the POE/RPOE team will be there on a daily basis fighting for retired teacher issues. Our team will not hold back from pushing for a permanent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for all retired educators. Accordingly, RPOE members are urged to call their legislators stressing the need for, not just a one-time stipend, but a long overdue COLA.

RPOE LEGISLATIVE GOALS:

To support the continuation of keeping OTRS on an actuarially sound path and opposing any legislation reducing or eliminating tax revenues dedicated to the OTRS system.

To support a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for all retired teachers.

To oppose any legislation that would call for consolidating the OTRS Board with other boards.

To support legislation placing an RPOE representative on the OTRS Board as a permanent voting member and to oppose any legislation which would use organization membership size as a criteria for such representation.